Supermarket's 20 per cent hike of budget essential brings cost of groceries to all time high

A supermarket's 20% price hike has taken the cost of a basket of essentials to a new high.

We have been monitoring the cost of the same eight items at the main six supermarkets for more than a year now - and the bill has never been as high.

For the first time, the products have topped £13 after Asda increased the price of a 500g pack of beef mince from £2.49 to £2.99 since last week.

It comes despite the retailer already being criticised for increasing prices in its Just Essentials range, with shoppers saying it's unfair to keep increasing the cheapest products when it's all they can afford.

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The price of beans has also gone up at three supermarkets this week, but there is some good news for shoppers as every supermarket has shaved 10p off the cost of butter, bringing them in line with Morrisons' Savers butter, which was already at the lower price of £1.89.

As well as comparing the cost of mince, beans and butter, the other items we've been tracking include tea bags, coffee, a two-pint bottle of milk, a loaf of bread, and a pack of chicken breasts.

While Asda retains its position as the most expensive, with a bill of £13.23, there's no change in this week's rankings.

Lidl remains cheapest at overall, at £11.76, followed by Aldi at £11.97, Sainsbury's at £12.17, followed by Tesco at £12.21, and Morrisons at £12.42.

Aldi argues that its tea bags are a higher quality than Lidl's 'One Cup', but our comparison has simply used the cheapest 160-box available. Or, as in the case of Tesco and Asda, multiple smaller packs to make up that number.

An Asda spokesperson said: "The recent decreases in the price of Asda branded milk, bread, and butter show that we